Will Mars missions increase the risk of an alien invasion? These researchers think so

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

Manned missions to Mars will increase the risk of Earth being invaded…by aliens, according to new research.

And they may be even more dangerous than little green men arriving on flying saucers.

Extra-terrestrial organisms could devastate ecosystems - and endanger humans. Island nations like the UK face the greatest danger.

Bacteria, fungi and other invisible stowaways will hitch a ride on spaceships - and survive.

The hardy creatures can withstand ice-cold darkness, blazing sunlight, blasting by cosmic radiation and being starved of water and nutrients.

Lead author Professor Anthony Ricciardi, an expert in the ecology of invasive species, said the scale of the threat has been overlooked.

He said: "Owing to their massive costs to resource sectors and human health, biological invasions are a global biosecurity issue requiring rigorous transboundary solutions."

Mars could also be colonized by harmful microbes traveling the other way - wiping out any signs of life, past or present.

Prof Ricciardi, of McGill University, Montreal, said: "The era of space exploration brings with it a new risk - invasion.

"The peril comes not from little green men arriving on flying saucers but, rather, from microbiological contamination of Earth from extra-terrestrial environments and vice versa."

It is more immediate than previously anticipated - despite considerable caution among space agencies, say the Canadian team.

Prof Ricciardi said: "Bacterial strains exhibiting extreme resistance to ionising radiation, desiccation and disinfectants have been isolated in NASA 'clean rooms' used for spacecraft assembly."

In 1969 the Apollo 12 astronauts brought back the unmanned Surveyor 3 spacecraft that had landed on the moon two years earlier.

Samples of the human mouth bug Streptococcus mitis were later recovered - after the instrument was sneezed on during assembly.

Having been seemingly dead they woke up in front of the scientists - and began multiplying.

It shows alien microbes can smuggle themselves aboard spacecrafts visiting Mars - and survive the return journey to Earth.

They would invade and colonise the solar system's most comfortable living quarters.

But the alarming scenario could be avoided through the emergent field of 'invasion science'.

Experts analyse the causes and consequences of organism introductions beyond their evolved ranges.

Prof Ricciardi said: "Research in invasion science has produced novel insights for epidemiology, rapid evolution, the relationship between biodiversity and community stability and the dynamics of predator-prey and parasite-host interactions - among many other concepts.

"Protocols for early detection, hazard assessment, rapid response and containment procedures currently employed for invasive species on Earth could be adapted for dealing with potential extra-terrestrial contaminants."

Insular systems such as islands, lakes and remote habitats are most vulnerable.

Early detection and rapid responses are crucial. Portable real-time DNA mapping technologies hold the key - along with databases of known contaminants.

Writing in the journal BioScience, the researchers want invasion biologists on the Committee on Space Research - a move that has not happened yet.

Prof Ricciardi said: "Greater collaboration with astrobiologists would enhance existing international protocols for planetary biosecurity - both for Earth and for extraterrestrial bodies that could contain life."

The race to Mars is speeding up. China plans aims send its first crew in 2033 - with regular follow-up flights. The US wants to get there first.

The long-term plan is to build a permanently inhabited base to extract resources - including silicon, iron, magnesium and aluminium.